


Weather the Storm

by DarkJediQueen



Series: Sterek Bingo 2020 [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Hockey AU, M/M, One-Shot, Rivals, Sterek Bingo 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24017713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Everyone had heard of Stilinski, rookie hot-shot goalie who had been the #1 draft pick several years before. He had joined one of the best AHL teams in the league right out of college. Derek hated him. He had yet to score on him since Stilinski had been pulled up to the NHL.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Sterek Bingo 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726042
Comments: 18
Kudos: 199





	Weather the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> **Year** : Unidentified Future Time  
>  **Spoilers** : Everything  
>  **Notes** : This is a completed One-shot. There will be no more written in the universe. This is total AU, even for hockey. I'm playing with the teams how I want. Also, I know that it's impossible for the Sharks and the Golden Nights to both make it to the Stanley Cups finals, shhh...handwave.  
>  **Beta** : Grammarly

With the puck stopped at the other end of the ice for the time being, Stiles relaxed a few seconds before he snagged his bottle to drink. He kept his body limber after that, skating to and fro. He could feel eyes on him and carefully looked around, it was Hale in the penalty box. He was serving two minutes for goaltender interference.

Stiles knew that Hale had it out for him, but he didn't know why. Pushing that away as the refs moved back toward the playing end, Stiles got ready to face the oncoming hoard.

The rest of the game was smooth. Stiles allowed no goals, and the other goalie gave up five.

Stiles was beat by the time that he exited the showers and got dressed to head back to his hotel. They had one more game in San Jose before they went back to Vegas for the fifth game in the final series. If there was a fifth game. So far, Vegas was sweeping the Sharks. One more game, and they had it. Vegas would get their cup after being defeated by the Capitals in their inaugural season.

The rest of the team had already gone on to the hotel. Stiles saw security waiting for him to get him out of there and into the car that would take him the block to the hotel. He wanted to sleep for twelve hours and then get up and get warmed up with a morning skate before what he hoped was the final game.

Stiles had been the back-up goalie for the past two years, but after a severe injury to the main one in the pre-season, he had been pulled to the starter and so far had been rocking his time. He was proud of himself. He was also damned happy that they were staying on the West Coast for this. That meant his father was able to take time off and drive to and from the cities for the games without spending a lot of money on tickets.

"Stiles, great job," Noah said as he stepped over to hug Stiles tightly.

Stiles glomped into his father, barely in control of his body from being tired. Noah laughed and tugged him toward the car that would take them both to the hotel. Stiles had got his dad a room on the same floor they were on even for the openers in Vegas.

Listening to his father give him the highlights of the game was good. His father sounded so proud and excited. Stiles was mostly asleep in the car when they pulled up to the hotel.

"You got him, Sir?" the driver asked.

"Yeah," Noah answered.

Stiles remembered the smell of his father's aftershave between the car and the door to his hotel room. He also remembered looking up at one point and seeing Hale staring at him from one of the areas where players like to hang out before games. He was alone.

The pre-game jitters were not enough to stop Stiles from dropping into sleep as soon as he hit the pillow in his room. He made sure his alarm was set, and then he dropped to sleep.

* * *

Coming home was always a big deal for Stiles. He missed Beacon Hills when he was in Vegas, and he missed Vegas when he was in Beacon Hills. Before, he had never missed Chicago when he could visit Beacon Hills. It had been a necessary step in getting into the groove of professional hockey after college, but he hated Chicago.

Stiles smiled at the few people who waved at him. His Jeep was fully rebuilt under the hood, but the out parts were still the same they had been in high school. Stiles wasn't going to part with the Jeep unless he ran out of money to keep it the way that he wanted. He loved driving it in Vegas, but when he came home for the brief time that he had in Beacon Hills, he loved having it with him instead of flying there.

The only reason why there was nothing hanging up anywhere was that his father had lied to the town that Stiles wouldn't be able to make it home between the end of the Stanley Cup stuff and the start of the pre-season training. It was all going to go up now, and Stiles was okay with that. He really didn't want the whole stuff being rubbed in Derek Hale's face as he knew that Hale always came home to his parents' house for a few weeks after the end of the season. His permanent residence was in San Jose.

Pulling into the station, Stiles hopped out of his Jeep and headed inside. He was assaulted by several of the deputies that he had known since he was a kid for autographs on Stanley Cup items and posed for pictures as well. He knew that many were going to be online, but then it happened when he came home no matter what. He was okay with that, given that there was always a spike in tourism following that kind of stuff.

"Stiles," his dad said as he exited his office. He came in for a hug. Stiles was sure that he heard the snap of a few pictures and turned to smile at the camera for one from Deputy Parrish.

"The town hasn't been too bad to Derek, have they?" Stiles asked as he dropped into the seat across from his father's desk.

"Nah, he was mobbed when he came home. Everyone wanted pictures and stuff. You'll have that happen probably when you leave here. I kept your arrival date a secret from everyone, as you can see."

"Yes. I can see that. I liked it though, looking at the city again with fresh eyes. My room still open?"

"Yes, I haven't turned it into a storage room yet."

"I wanna drop my stuff off, and then I figured I could walk around and get mobbed by a bunch of people." Stiles knew that he needed to get this part done with as soon as possible.

"I'm off at seven, and I have reservations for two at the restaurant you love."

"You got it, Daddio!" Stiles pushed out of the seat and gave his father a two-finger salute before he slipped out of the office. He made it out of the station with letting anyone new see him. There was no one gathered around his Jeep thankfully.

After a shower to get the road off of him, Stiles was walking around the busier downtown part of Beacon Hills after parking his Jeep in the comic book store parking lot, so he didn't have to carry his purchases nearly as far. He knew that a few people realized that it was him and waved but didn't come closer. Stiles' favorite coffee shop had a window full of Stanley Cup promo flyers, and he saw that Derek had signed a few of them. He slipped in the door behind another couple, waiting to see who would recognize him first, customers or staff.

"BATMAN!" Erica yelled when she looked up when another few people came in behind him.

"CATWOMAN!" Stiles yelled back. A few of the patrons inside of the coffee shop laughed and then kind of stopped when they realized who he was.

"Come up here and keep me company. Isaac, I need help!" Erica yelled into the back.

Isaac came up to the front, took a look at the line, and then started to fill orders. Stiles jumped up onto the counter on the staff side of it and helped by pulling the slips that printed out and sticking them on the correct size cups before making a line of them where Isaac could grab them.

Stiles used to do it when he was home during college as well. Everyone who worked here knew him well. Hell, there was a drink named after him, though he was pretty sure that no one knew that it was where it came from.

The rush was easy to get through with Stiles calling out the names on the drinks and handing them over when Isaac was done with them. More than a few of the ladies and men blushed at him when he smiled. Finally, the coffee shop had no one in line, and Stiles was able to make his own drink.

"Should you be doing that?" a woman asked as she stepped up to the counter. She was eying him making his signature drink.

"Well, as I am part-owner of the business, yes." Stiles raised an eyebrow at her, and she raised one back. The Hale eyebrow was still very strong with Cora Hale.

"Stilinski?"

"Duh," Stiles said back. He knew that he looked different from high school, where he had kept his hair buzzed down to nothing to make it easier to shower. Between hockey and school, he had been all for doing anything that made it quicker to do anything.

"What can I get you?" Erica asked as she stepped up to the register again.

"One large, hot Little Red," Cora ordered.

Stiles smirked and started to make it. He had his iced so he couldn't just hand it over to her. Cora's eyes were drawn to him even though he was pretty sure that she wanted to look anywhere but at him. Probably a little miffed at Stiles being the reason why the Sharks, and therefore her brother had lost.

"How are you part-owner?"

"Well, you know that this has always been a spot where high school kids could come and work. Erica, Isaac, and Boyd worked here through high school and then after while commuting to college. When it came up for sale, they wanted to buy it as they loved working here. So I bought it as part of a loan, and they paid back their parts to where they each own twenty percent. It's what I did with my signing bonus. Never regretted it. Well, that and paid off the loan on the house that Dad lives in."

Cora looked at him with a shocked look on her face, but Stiles just shrugged and took a sip of his drink, chasing the straw. Cora paid and took her drink and left without saying anything else. Stiles just looked at Erica and shrugged.

"I figured if I dropped in here for a while, it would give the rest of the town time to find out that I was back and then attack me. I'm heading to the comic book store. I have a massive order to pick up."

"Have fun!" Isaac yelled from the back. Erica just grinned at him and waved.

Stiles gave a few waves to people in the shop who were looking at him, and then he exited. The way to the comic book store was going to be the long way. Then he would cart his long boxes to his Jeep. He slipped into town before the beginning of the next season and picked up everything that had come out. He kept his order at the shop there in town and was sent invoices at the beginning of the month for what had come in the month before. There were a few comics that he was bundled and shipped, but most of them he just picked up like this, and then he would carry them around with him to read while traveling to and from games during the season. He was always behind, but he didn't care all that much.

A block away, Stiles was looking across the street when he felt someone grabbing his shirt and tugging him into the alley. HIs drink cup fell out of his hands and splashed all over his pants.

"What the hell are you doing here?" a harsh voice demanded.

Stiles felt his head crack off the wall behind him. He had closed his eyes when he had been jerked into the alley, and it was only after blinking a few times that Stiles was able to make the face in front of him filter through on who it was.

"What?" Stiles naked.

"Are you stalking me? Rubbing it in my face that you won?" Derek Hale demanded.

"What?" Stiles asked because he wasn't sure what the hell Derek was talking about.

The sound of someone clearing their throat had both Stiles and Derek looking toward the opening of the alley.

"I didn't take you for this kind of person, Hale," Stiles's dad said.

"I'm sorry, Sheriff, I don't know what you mean." Derek let go of Stiles' shirt and looked at Noah.

"Stiles, over here."

Stiles scooted out from between Derek and the wall and walked over to his father.

"I had no less than three people tell me that someone jerked Stiles here into the alley when I rounded the block."

"He followed me here, Sir."

"He was leaving the coffee shop and making his way around town to show everyone that he is home," Noah said.

"Home?" Derek asked, and he looked confused.

"Yes, Mister Hale, home. Where else would you call the place that one was birthed?"

"You grew up here?" Derek asked, looking at Stiles.

"Yes, I was a few years under Cora. Hell, I learned how to play hockey with her at the rink. We dominated the age bracket that we were in together."

Derek was looking at Stiles like he was seeing him for the first time. "You are that hyperactive kid that everyone called Mischief, aren't you?"

"Yes," Stiles said. He knew that Derek had never paid much attention to the kids who played in the game with Cora, given the age difference between them. He was a little shocked that Derek even remembered the name that he had gone by before he had coined himself Stiles and then later Little Red.

"I'm sorry. I knew that they said we were both from California, but I guess I must have missed the Beacon Hills part." Derek actually looked ashamed.

"Stiles, are you hurt?" Noah asked.

"Nope. But I expect another drink." Stiles looked down as he feet to pick up the cup, straw, and lid that were scattered there. "I guess I'll head back and get another before going and picking up my comics. Hale, it's been a real...pleasure." Stiles turned to leave so that his father could be the buffer while Stiles went back toward the coffee shop. He kind of regretted not driving his Jeep from place to place now. He wasn't in the mood to be all personable now. He knew that not every player knew everything about each one, but Stiles really would have thought that someone would have talked about him before.

Cora was back in the coffee shop, and it looked like she had a massive drink order this time, given the two trays that were set out and the paper in her hand. "I thought your grace issues were solved with hockey?" Cora asked as she looked Stiles up and down.

"Yes, they were. Not losing your cup, though when you are jerked and shoved into a wall, is a little harder."

"Who attacked you?" Erica asked, and she looked like she was ready to go and beat up whoever it was.

The jingle of the bell on the door had Stiles turning around. He threw up his hands and backed up to put Cora between him and Derek.

"Just stay there," Stiles said.

"I just wanted to buy you a new drink after I made you lose yours," Derek said, and he looked like was chewing gravel as he said it.

"I didn't even pay for the first one, so no harm, no foul."

"You seriously let people give it to you for free? These guys are great, and all but charity is better elsewhere." Derek looked a little pissed off.

"One, Dear brother, what the hell are you doing shoving him into a wall? And two, he fucking owns the place!" Cora nearly yelled at Derek.

Derek looked at Cora like he was just noticing her. "What are you doing here?"

"Afternoon drink order for the office. Peter's demanding his Little Red, and you know how he gets."

"Does everyone in the Hale family like that drink?" Stiles asked.

"No," Derek said at the same time that Cora said, "Yes."

"Don't even, Man," Isaac said as he started to drop drinks in the carriers. "You suck down two of them before leaving the shop whenever you get back in town, and you don't even touch the one that we named after you, which used to be your favorite."

Stiles looked at the menu and laughed when he noticed the one that was named Sourwolf. Yeah, that pretty much fit Derek to a T.

"What's your drink?" Derek asked, his tone was a little mocking.

Stiles wasn't sure if he thought that Stiles didn't have his own drink, or he thought that one of the other drinks was his.

"Hey, Cora, what did I tell you that one day when the puck cracked my jaw and made me bleed?" Stiles asked.

Cora laughed. "That a little red on the ice never hurt anyone. After that, you were nicknamed Little Red in honor of the fact that despite being the goalie, you usually ended up a little bloodier than the more active members on the team." Cora just grinned at her brother before walking over to him and kissed his cheek before she left with the two trays of drinks.

"Hence why the drink I always ordered here became known as Little Red," Stiles said. He walked around the counter to make another for himself and one for Derek. Stiles laid a hand over a hot cup, but Erica shook her head no, so Stiles grabbed a cold cup. He made up Derek's at the same time as his and slid Derek's over the counter toward him. "No hard feelings, Dude."

"Don't call me dude," Derek said, but he took the cup and the lid from Erica that didn't need a straw. Stiles used the straw because, at least with the whole he can't keep his arms still while telling a story, he didn't get it all over himself. Derek took a drink before he turned around and left without saying anything else.

"What's got a burr up his butt?" Erica asked.

"He has yet to actually score on Stiles," Boyd said from behind them all. Stiles jumped and screamed, spinning around to glare at Boyd, who just smiled at him.

"Dude, bell. I swear I'm gonna buy a leather choker for you with Erica's name on it and put a bell on it so you can't sneak up me like that." Stiles opened his arms for a hug, though. Boyd was actually the first of the trio that Stils had met, mainly because Boyd worked at the rink in town. Then had come Isaac and Erica when she had learned that skating was something she could do if she was on a good run of meds. "ANd really?"

"Yeah. It was the talk of the newscasters and other radio guys in the whole of the Stanley Cup run after the Sharks finished out their set of games to get them into the Stanley Cup. He's scored on every other goalie, usually more than once, considering he's the best scorer that the Sharks have. Yet, all season long, you've kept him from getting a single point in any game where they play you. You only allowed a total of five points for the Sharks the whole season, and he was not one of those five. Though that whole not allowing the Sharks to score at all during the finals was a bit of an ego hit on him and the rest of the Sharks from what I've heard."

"Holy shit," someone said behind Stiles he turned to see that it was a group of people that they had gone to school with. "I don't think I've ever heard you say that much before."

"Get him talking about hockey, and he won't shut up," Stiles said.

Boyd gave Stiles a smile before he held out his fist for a fist bump. Stiles saluted the rest of them with his drink. He wasn't going to lollygag around, and this time was going to go straight for comics. Stopping for anyone who wanted to talk to him, of course, but that would be it.

* * *

Stiles finished lacing up his skates and looked out at the fresh ice. Boyd still ran the Zamboni after games, but he did it now as part of the coaching team and just being a good guy. The coffee shop made more than enough money to support the house that he lived in with Isaac and Erica, so he did a lot of volunteer work at the arena when he wasn't helping a little with the shop. Stiles supported the arena a good deal with donations and his name, but there were times that he just loved being out on the ice when no one else was around. Hence why he had made sure that his donations got him ice time when there was no one else there. His father knew that he was there and knew roughly when to expect Stiles back. If he was late, Stiles would text to let him know that he wasn't bleeding out on the ice.

Pushing out, Stiles felt the ice giving to his sharp blade, and he smiled. As soon as his parents had figured out that he was not just hyper but that he couldn't control himself when he didn't have a physical outlet, they had tried every single sport out there and while Lacrosse had been kind of okay, skating had been something that Stiles loved. They tried figure skating and the like, and while Stiles loved to do it, he hadn't liked being watched like that. So hockey had come into play. That was where Stiles had met Cora Hale, and from there, their weird friendship had been born. Even now, Stiles got texts when he was playing against anyone who wasn't the Sharks.

Stiles pulled up his headphones and put them in his ears before he started up his warm-up music. The team had been a little leery of him before and what he did to warm-up before putting on pads to work on goalie, but after watching the way that he moved, no one made fun of him. A few guys from other teams did, especially with Stiles being the first openly bisexual player to join an NHL team. Stiles had been out since college, and it hadn't hurt him at all. There were a few guys who didn't like it even on his own team, but the management had made it known that they wouldn't take bullying over that. Seven other players had come out in the NHL since then, three gay and three more bisexual. Stiles knew of one more guy who hadn't come out to the news but had to Stiles. He was Asexual and found that even just knowing that there was someone who embraced who they were like that, he felt better, and he was working up to coming out on his own. Statistics said that there were more, but Stiles wasn't someone who was going to bully them into coming out or make them seem less. Every time that it was brought up, Stiles always pushed that. That no one should ever feel forced and that he was there to listen, even if all they wanted to do was tell one person who wasn't family.

After his warm-up, Stiles moved to his routine that he knew better than anything else from his figure skating days. He didn't worry too much about the leaps and anything like that. He had promised to keep things toned down in the offseason. He wasn't going to court hurting himself. Stiles was halfway through his routine when he felt eyes on himself. He knew that only people with keys could get in without making a hell of a lot of noise, considering that he had turned on the alarm for the doors and windows, so he didn't care too much about being watched. It could even just be Boyd making sure that he wasn't alone.

Stiles finished out the routine and then skating around the rink a few times before he moved to his cooling down routine and the music with it. He had made his playlist that was perfect. He knew when to move from one thing to another. When the last song played, Stiles slowed his skating and turned toward where he had left his supplies to see Derek standing there at the opening. Stiles hadn't even thought about the fact that Derek probably had the same privileges as he did here. Though that they would both want to skate alone at the same time was the furthest through from his mind.

"Hey, I'm done so you can head out if you want." Stiles snagged his towel from the top of his bag, leaning over the wall to grab it. He wiped at his face to get rid of the sweat there. "Boyd's coming in first thing in the morning to take the Zamboni over the ice so have at."

"I actually saw your Jeep outside and came in to see you."

"Why?" Stiles asked. In the two weeks since Stiles had come home, Derek had made it pretty clear that he wanted nothing to do with Stiles. Which had included him crossing the street when he had been walking down it with his sister just to get away from where Stiles was walking one day. Cora had been in the shop a few more times for drinks for the Hale Management offices, and she had told him how much their parents had raked him over the coals for not realizing who Stiles was. Especially when the first thing he did was not only assault him but doing so in front of people and making an idiot of himself in front of the Sheriff by not realizing that Stiles was his son. Cora had laughed her ass off at that when she said that he had been pulled over three times by the Sheriff for stupid stuff, none of which had got him a ticket, but the last one had Derek blowing up and demanding to know why the Sheriff cared so much about Stiles.

"It's been pressed upon me that I've been an asshole."

"Dude, everyone who has watched a single game with you in it, or at least an interview knows that you are an asshole. There is a reason that people call you Murder Brows."

Derek actually flushed at that.

"Look, I get it okay. You are entitled to your feelings, no matter what they are. No one should be telling you anything different."

"I hated all the promo stuff for the hometown showdown mainly because I wasn't sure how they thought us being from the same state could be called a hometown showdown. I never thought to look into more on why or that anyone else from here would ever get that far."

"Yeah, I mean, they push my stuff from college more than hometown so I can see it. Look, it's fine. We can easily just stay away from each other here in town. Don't worry about it. Everything is fine. I mean, we didn't even cross paths when we both lived her end I just visit dad for a few weeks each off-season. We can make this work."

Derek nodded his head. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he closed his mouth and just looked around at the ice. Stiles took that as his queue to leave and sat down to et his skates off. Derek still hadn't said a single word by the time that Stiles had packed up to leave.

* * *

Stiles saw the gloves coming off and backed out of the way in time to watch as one of the Sharks pretty much launched themselves at him. He had nowhere to go with bodies on either side of him and the net behind him. This wasn't the first game that the Sharks and Golden Knights had played against each other since the end of the last season, but each one just kept on getting worse. The player was coming at him and then stopped all of a sudden, and Stiles saw that someone else had a hold of him. He was about to cheer at his own player when he saw that it was a Sharks jersey, and the C on it told him that it was Derek.

"Do not do anything to get your ass put in the bin!" Derek yelled loud enough to have every single person that was trying to et up around Stiles stop what they were doing. Derek didn't often yell at all outside of across the arena during warm-ups and stuff.

There were only five minutes left in the game, and so far neither team had scored. Which was why the guy had tried to punch out Stiles' face just now. Stiles had stopped his shot by the skin of his teeth off an odd-man rush at him.

"I don't give a fuck if Stilinski stopped the shot of your career. You do anything to get them a power-play, and I'm taking it out on your ass. That goes for everyone." Derek dragged his player back toward the player's bench. The rest of the team skated after them. Stiles looked at the two team members that were closest to him and could see their wide-eyed look. Stiles shrugged and turned to grab a drink from his bottle before he got ready for the puck to get dropped again.

The game ended in overtime with the Knights getting the first goal. Stiles made sure that he didn't go anywhere without at least two other team members with him since they were the visiting team, and there were a lot of Sharks fans around.

"Dude," one of the players said as they left the locker room.

Stiles looked up from where he was looking at his phone to see Derek standing there with two cups of coffee in his hands, at least it looked like coffee. One had a straw, and the other didn't, and Derek took a sip of that one.

"Sorry about him," Derek said as he held out the cup.

One of the others tried to intercept it, but Stiles grabbed it first.

"It's fine. Tempers flare with situations like that. You stopped him, even if I would have loved to see him get thrown it the sin bin." Stiles introduced Derek to his two teammates and then waved for them to head out. One of them eyed Derek.

"I'll make sure he gets to his hotel just fine. I mean...have you met his father? Last time I did anything to him, I got pulled over every single day, and that's nothing like what I would get for actually hurting him."

The teammates laughed and waved at Stiles before heading out.

"You didn't have to get me coffee. It's decaf, right?" Stiles asked. He still got his lips around the straw and sucked it down before he got an answer.

"Yes. Erica told me about how you don't do well with caffeine after a game.

"DUDE!" Stiles slapped at Derek's arm. "What the hell is this?"

"It didn't take much to get the recipe out of Erica, and I only get it when I need something good. The barista at the shop here hates me when I ask her for it, but she at least has stopped glaring at me. When I asked for two before the game though she looked pissed. Especially when I asked for no ice. I added ice from the locker room after getting them out of the fridge."

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do it, you know. I mean, you did that before your player tried to punch me."

"I knew that someone was going to do something. Tempers are a little high." Derek looked at a watch on his wrist and then toward where the vehicles were waiting to take the Knights back to their hotel. They were in the middle of a string of traveling, so they had flown to San Jose, and then we're heading to the East Coast for seven games. "You have a flight in the morning, right?"

"Yeah. I should try and get back to sleep. I won't be starting the game, but I need to be on hand. He's still having a few issues that we knew might happen."

"Yeah, we know. We keep hoping that they will start him in the games, at least let us get a shot in. You know that we are the only team that you have shut out in every single game played, between us right?" Derek asked.

"Really? I...don't keep track like that. I know that it makes me weird, and I love stats, but I don't keep track of my own stats like that all that much. Shut outs, in total, yes. Per team, no. That kind of shit will make me nervous, so I'm just going to delete that."

Derek laughed and nodded. He walked Stiles to the last car that was waiting.

"You the last, Sir?"

"Yup," Stiles said as he climbed into the backseat. He popped the P and waved at Derek before shutting the door. He looked back to see that Derek didn't turn away until Stiles' car was a good distance away. Stiles wasn't sure what the hell was going on with him, but he would take it.

* * *

Stiles was bobbing his head along to the music playing in his headphones as the rest of the team was around him getting dressed and ready. He felt someone push at him but didn't look up at all. He was used to that. It was a reminder that they were getting ready to head out. Stiles was in the zone for the game. He'd been on the bench for the last three as they were the other goalie's games. Stiles was starting tonight since they were playing the Sharks in Vegas. Stiles was the perfect ammunition to keep the Sharks on their toes. A few of the players on that team were more than willing to try stupid stuff to get a goal, and it had worked in their favor all season long.

So far, it looked like it might be Sharks might be making it into the playoffs this year.

A sharp shake of his shoulder had Stiels actually looking up to see that there were a few people in there that shouldn't be. Namely, Derek Hale, who was geared up, it looked like to play with them. Stiles just looked at him as the team manager spoke, his headphones stopped him from hearing a single thing. He knew that Derek's current contract with the Sharks was up, but there had been a lot of talk of how much they wanted to keep him. Derek had said nothing in any direction or another on it. This meant that he had been traded, and Stiles had no clue what was going on. He would have to check out shit later.

"Oh, this is going to fucking suck," Stiles said as the higher-ups left the locker room, and it was just the team left. He tugged his earphones out. "He was the only thing keeping them from beating the shit out of me!"

A few of the guys laughed. Derek looked at Stiles like he was worried about something.

"Holy shit, Dad said that he caught a flight with your parents. They are here tonight!" Stiles said.

"Yeah. I asked them to come to the game, and they figured out the flight the Sheriff was on and got seats with him."

"Dude, Roasted is holding a watch party. This is gonna blow the town's mind. Their golden boys both on the same team."

Derek nodded his head and laughed. He looked a lot more relaxed at that moment.

"Hey, Red, you still got that spare room made up?" the team captain asked.

"Yeah," Stiles said. He nodded his head and tried to figure out why the hell they were asking about that."

"Good, you can put up Hale for the night. You guys are buddies."

"Hey, now just because we grew up in the same town doesn't mean we are buddies. I mean, I told you about him thinking I had followed him to Beacon Hills, and he shoved me into a wall, right?" Stiles said.

"You'll be fine. He won't do that now as that means we'll kill him at practice," the Captain narrowed his eyes at Derek before he started to get them all ready to head out.

Stiles wasn't sure how the game was going to go, but he really, really wanted to make sure that Derek's first game with them was a big fucking deal. No one partied like Vegas after a win. There was a nice four day stretch before the next game, so Stiles would be able to show Derek how to party after a win. A hand on Stiles' shoulder kept him back. He looked at the Captain.

"Look, this doesn't leave you and me, but the coach told me the main reason why Derek didn't renew his contract with the Sharks."

"Okay," Stiles said. He wasn't sure what was going on with the Captain telling him that. He didn't need to know it at all.

"We got rid of the dead weight of the guys who didn't like you being on the team but kept their mouths shut. There are a few on the Sharks team that I guess don't keep their mouths shut or their hands to themselves when it comes to anyone who is not heteronormative. Hale told the coach and me as well as the owners that as soon as he's down in front of a reporter who he likes, he's going to come out."

"Sure, sure. That's great! I'll keep an eye on him. The guys won't bother him, though. We know that."

"Yeah, we do." The Captain clasped Stiles on the shoulder and then waved for him to head out. Stiles took his place at the front of the team and then out onto the ice they went.

* * *

Stiles looked up at the board for the last game of the playoffs. He hadn't been able to shut out the team, but he had only allowed a single goal while the other team had given up two. The last just thirty seconds before the buzzer of the third period. Derek had been the one to score. The game was over, and for the second year, the Golden Knights had taken it, this time at home. The Hales and his father were in a box up there somewhere, probably screaming their heads off. Stiles pushed his helmet off so that he could hear. The floor was shaking, or at least Stiles thought so, from the shaking and screaming that the fans were doing. He was just looking at the fans who were dancing and screaming. It was a fucking rush.

Teammates were coming up to him and punching him lightly on the pads, but Stiles was still just a little too off-kilter. He felt like crying.

Then there was someone coming at him. He barely had time to brace himself, he expected to get punched or something, but instead, he was being kissed. It was only the beard that he felt rubbing on his face that told him who it was. He clutched at Derek tightly as he tried not to tip backward with the weight of his friend on him. Derek wasn't going to have to come out to the news it seemed as he had just done it in the most spectacular way possible. Stiles just grabbed him tighter and held on.

Something had been building between them in the time since Derek had joined the team. The contract for him to stay was still being worked on, but Stiles knew that it was what Derek wanted. He just really wanted to be away from the Sharks. They had talked about him and his sexuality, and while Derek had never found that time where he was fully ready to come out to the world, his family knew, and the team knew. That was all that mattered to Derek until he not only decided that he needed to tell the world, but he needed to kiss Stiles as well.

The team surrounding them and patting them both on the back finally pulled Derek out of the kiss. He looked a little worried, but Stiles smiled at him, and Derek started to smile back.

Together they could weather this storm.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.


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